Shikor Bangladesh All Stars, a seven-strong group of top traditional musicians have come to the UK for the first time for Songlines Encounters Festival, organised by Songlines, the world music magazine.
The magazine has been running since 1999 and covers music. It is published 10 times a year covering the most important traditional and contemporary artists around the globe. This is the fifth year of the Songlines Encounters Festival.
The UK debut of Shikhor Bangladesh All Stars this week has been organised through a partnership of Songlines magazine, Ikon Arts management and Culturepot Global, run by Runi Khan. The visit sponsored by the Bangladesh Ministry of Cultural Affairs is led by Nazrul Islam, who is the dhol player of choice for dozens of musicians in Dhaka. The group also includes virtuoso singers Runa Laila and Mumtaz as well as contemporary groups such as Bangla and Arnob and Friends.
“Even people who are knowledgeable about world music are completely unfamiliar with the sounds from Bangladesh,” says Simon Broughton, Songlines’ editor-in-chief. “That’s why I was keen to bring this glorious band to our festival. The great thing is that folk music in Bangladesh is still a thriving tradition while in India it’s rapidly dwindling. And this is music worth celebrating.”
The band also includes Baby Akter, Nazrul’s wife, the fine Baul singer Rob Fakir, Anup Kumar Mandal, Mobaraq Hossain and, representing the next generation, Labik Kamal Gaurob. Dhaka’s leading bansuri player Jalal Ahmed weaves his flute around the vocals like the flowing rivers of Bangladesh. The group have just released their debut CD Soul of Bengal on Funkiwala Records.
The festival will close with a special collaboration between Shikor and LoKkhi TeRra, the multi-cultural band led by pianist and keyboard player Kishon Khan. In order to find more about the festival, I had a chat with Runi Khan who is the brain behind the festival.
Tell us the idea behind Songlines Encounters Festival?
Songlines is an annual festival curated and programmed by Simon Broughton who is the Editor -in-Chief of Songlines Magazine which is probably the only one of its kind in the world which covers 'world music' and also the best from around the world whether known or unknown. It embraces musicians of high quality and allows the exposure they would need to be heard to be recognised for the quality they are.
It was therefore most appropriate to try and secure Shikors debut performance in London at the Songlines Encounter Festival.
It is because of our objective that we have worked for months to get Shikor on the international stage and Songlines Encounter was out first choice, as it focuses on world music, the category that Bangladesh’s music would fall under.
How did they decide to perform in London?
To begin with, we are Londoners. London's hall mark is for us its rich cultural diversity. It is also the meeting point of the best of all world culture and has extensive cross cultural activities. Moreover, the musical collaboration that the Shikor team have been working on for some years now is with the London based band Lokkhi Terra, so London was the city of choice for Shikor's debut and that is also why the concert has been curated in two parts - to showcase both the tradition and the contemporary collaboration.
Is the music from Bangladesh very popular in the UK? Do you think the concert will help in increasing the popularity of this band in the UK?
The music is popular on doubt but is sadly restricted to the Bangladeshi Diaspora and to other's who have links with Bangladesh. But the music Baul and folk music is very rich and would be popular if it is presented at mainstream venues and toured around the other cites of the the UK
What sort of response have you received from music lovers in the UK?
The response has been unexpectedly huge. Baul in particular is a philosophy and many serious music lovers are very keen to see and hear the real stuff. This is a great opportunity and we have Shikor showcasing at WOMAD on the 25th and 26th July -between these two festivals we are sure will secure a place for Bangladesh in the world music arena.
